Feeling Musical Nostalgia

On February 24th, just a little more than a week from the writing and publishing of this post, I will be turning 24 years old. I’m both still young, and yet feeling much older.

A phenomenon I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older is a strong sense of nostalgia. Sometimes I’ll get hit with that feeling when I’m playing a video game I played as a kid, or maybe watching an old Disney movie. But one of the most striking triggers of nostalgia I’ve experienced is the nostalgia that I feel when I listen to the music I listened to between the ages of 10 through 15.

In that period of our lives, most people are beginning to discover what makes them unique. At that age we both fear and desire to be different and stemming from the fear portion of those feelings, music taste is one of those qualities that’s easy to develop without necessarily feeling like an outsider. I suppose, that’s not always the case, but in the age of iPods and MP3 players, discovering your music taste was easy to keep secret if you were nervous about being picked on for it.

Before I continue, what I’ve written is based mostly on my own observations. I’m not a scientist, nor have I been able to easily find anything that scientifically backs up what I’m talking about. But again, it’s based on my personal observations and experiences.

Why am I talking about nostalgia, music, and turning 24? Well, that’s because I’ve made a new playlist that I’ve called Alternative Throwbacks as a result of coming up to my 24th birthday and constantly listening to the music I fell in love with in my pre-teen and early teenage years.

As of 02/15/2018 there are only 10 videos on this YouTube playlist which you can view below. I do intend to add to it as the semester continues, so stick around, I may mention the playlist in future blog posts or social media. Otherwise, you can just continue to check back to the playlist at leisure.